Motorola unveils Hybrid remote control built for XBMC

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XBMC is one of the most popular media center platforms available: it’s robust, supports tons of video formats, will run on almost any OS and multiple devices, and best of all, it’s free. Even so, not everyone wants to use a keyboard and mouse to control their television. That’s where the Nyxboard Hybrid remote control comes in: it’s the first remote control built from the ground up for XBMC.

Even if you’ve committed yourself to using XBMC installed on your Mac, PC, or even spare Linux box, that doesn’t mean that you’re forced to quietly resign yourself to keeping a keyboard and a mouse or a keyboard and trackpad on your coffee table just to choose the show you want to watch. The Nyxboard Hybrid (designed and built by Motorola) is designed to give you full control over your home theater PC running XBMC. It features a full QWERTY keyboard on the bottom and standard remote control buttons on the top, and even has red, green, yellow, and blue buttons on top to correspond with the Xbox controller.

The Hybrid also has a built-in gyroscope, which turns off the keys on the bottom side of the remote depending on the way you’re holding it. So if you’re typing in a search term and looking for your favorite movie or television show, the remote knows to turn off the d-pad and selection keys on the other side until you flip it over. Similarly, you can comfortably hold the remote with the d-pad up to navigate menus and shows without accidentally typing something by tapping a key on the bottom.

The remote also supports IR so you can use it to control your TV and other devices in your home theater setup as well as your XBMC system. It’s not quite feature-rich enough to replace a Logitech Harmony or similar device, but if you only have your XBMC computer, TV, and maybe a receiver to control with the remote, it may work well. The Hybrid includes a tiny IR receiver for your XBMC computer that plugs into an available USB port.

Motorola says the device will ship on June 27th, but pre-orders are up now. The Hybrid retails for $59.99, and will even ship with a copy of XBMC on disc if you don’t have it installed already.